Christian or Sadistic?

O, The Odium!

One of the main reasons I entered my PhD program was because I could not reconcile the behavior of evangelical Christians, in particular, conservative white evangelical Christians as a category, and the cutthroat and other unChristlike ways in which many behave. To be sure, I know there are such folks in other streams of Christianity, but none of them vociferously claim to read and obey the literal teachings of Jesus and the Bible and serve as the moral compass of the United States.

Over and over again I ask(ed) myself, “What is it about the spiritual formation or malformation that allows them to act in such a way without compunction?” How can they live with themselves? Said differently, what is it about the theology and culture in white evangelical churches that fuels such hateful behavior towards those perceived as outsiders? As C.S. Lewis observed in his Reflection on the Psalms, “Of all bad men, religious bad men are the worst.” I second that.

Here is one example of the hateful and culture of death behavior of which I speak. Wheaton College graduate, architect of Project 2025, and Christian nationalist, Russell Vought was just nominated and confirmed as the Trump Administration’s Director of Office Management and Budget (OMB). According to a October 24, 2024 Pro Publica piece, one of Vought’s major priorities was to

‘defund’ certain independent federal agencies and demonize career civil servants, which include scientists and subject matter experts. Project 2025’s plan to revive Schedule F, an attempt to make it easier to fire a large swath of government workers who currently have civil service protections, aligns with Vought’s vision.

Vought’s intention was to traumatize civil servants, here derisively called “bureaucrats”:

‘We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected,’ he said. ‘When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work because they are increasingly viewed as the villains. We want their funding to be shut down so that the EPA can't do all of the rules against our energy industry because they have no bandwidth financially to do so.’

• Photo via Religion News Service article highlighted below.

In summary, Pro Publica writes:

Who are these “bureaucrats” affected? Democratic Senator Tim Kaine from Virginia shared some of the stories of those affected. Here I will cite just three; you can find these stories and others here:

A federal employee working for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) who wrote, ‘After two extremely painful miscarriages, I am now 34 weeks pregnant with my first child. Since my husband works as a lawyer for the EPA, what should have been a joyful time in our lives now feels like a dystopian hellscape and we are very afraid for our future and financial security. We are just hoping to have health insurance at this point for when I give birth but even that feels uncertain. I swore an oath and believe in the work that USAID does. I believe that it makes American stronger, safer, and more prosperous, as Secretary Rubio is calling for, and I will supporting (sic) the Agency until they boot me from the system. God help us all.’

A federal employee working for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services who explained, ‘I am married and pregnant. I am the breadwinner. A woman. I am a homeowner. I pay taxes. I took an oath and I love my job. The daily fear tactics and targeting of federal employees has uprooted my life. I no longer feel safe going on any kind of family vacation, making any big purchases or doing anything because everyday I wonder will I have a job.’

A federal employee working for the National Science Foundation (NSF) who said, ‘The opportunity to give back and support the next generation of U.S. based scientists was a dream fulfilled, and I am terrified that I will be fired as soon as Friday with no protections or severance. The fair compensation and flexible schedule let’s (sic) my spouse work as a teacher, and she is so great at her job. But that will not pay the mortgage.’

Back to Vought. Recall that he said he wanted to traumatize federal employees, that is, “Put them in trauma.” What kind of Christian, please tell me, what kind Christian, says that and then does that? Are Vought’s actions Christian? No, they are not; they are sadistic. Russell Vought is sadistic. In case we are not too sure what ‘sadistic’ means, see Merriam Webster’s Dictionary definition:

One of the conclusions that I came to was that white evangelicals as a group are far more captive to U.S. culture, the spirit of the age, the zeitgist, than they know or admit. Of course, none of us can escape being influenced by our culture. However, our personal or collective identities do not have to be defined by our culture. Sadly, too many evangelical Christians here in the United States conflate being their-defintion-of-patriotic with being Christian.

No political party in the entire world will save us. Government can definitely thwart various kinds of evil, protect us from it. Or it can, through Russell Vought, and other like him, traumatize us. Do you see why there is such odium towards white evangelical Christians today? They are not being persecuted for following Jesus. Rather, they are being denounced for bowing to the empire and acting like Satan’s henchmen. I can hear Jesus saying to them as he said to Peter:

“Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me because you’re not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns" (Matthew 16:23, CSB).

That said, I know when I say such things that I must watch myself lest I fall.

C.S. Lewis wrote about the sadism I describe above (screen shot from Goodreads):

Just to highlight once more. According to Lewis (refer to quote above):

But it is out of the second man that something really fiendish can be made; an Inquisitor, a Member of the Committee of Public Safety. It is great men, potential saints, not little men, who become merciless fanatics. Those who are readiest to die for a cause may easily become those who are readiest to kill for it.

We pray that Russell Vought, Stephen Miller, and others in this administration repent of being merciless fanatics and come to Christ. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

As for the rest of us, I think it good that we take this advice from Lewis in his Reflection on the Psalms, “I am inclined to think a Christian would be wise to avoid, where he decently can, any meeting with people who are bullies, lascivious, cruel, dishonest, spiteful and so forth.” That means professing Christians like Vought.

Of Interest.

• From Religion News: Wheaton College clash over Russell Vought escalates, exposing evangelical fault lines

• Hot off the press from Wheaton College in Chicago. Backlash from those who believe Wheaton has gone “woke.” Students, Alumni Vow to Cease Financial Support Following Vought X Post Controversy. In a letter to the college, Wheaton alumni describe a mission drift and outline their desired priorities for the institution.

• “Are you prepared to take on the billionaire class?” Bernie Sanders on this administration’s move to oligarchy and authoritarianism and the damage being done here in the U.S. and abroad. Bernie said not to listen to what Trump says, but what he does.

• “Trump’s cuts to federal wildfire crews could have ‘scary’ consequences” declares the Idaho Capitol Sun. This visual captures it well:

• Conflict of interest, anyone?

• Chilling - who is this paramilitary group who detained Teresa Borrenpohl at a North Idaho town hall?

• Yes! Weisel’s wisdom:

• Joyce Vance’s thoughts on the ‘Friday Night Massacre’ at the Pentagon. And here is Amy McGrath’s opinion on what the military firings of top personel portends:

With Love,

Marlena

The above quote by Merton highlights the grand truth and beauty found in Shawn’s last post on human dignity and rights. Here it is if you missed it.